Bone anchors can be used in orthopedic surgery to fix bone during healing, fusion, or other processes. In spinal surgery, for example, bone anchors can be used to secure a spinal fixation element to one or more vertebrae to rigidly or dynamically stabilize the spine.
In a conventional procedure for coupling a bone anchor to bone, access to the bone is obtained, for example by forming a skin incision and resecting soft tissue disposed over the bone or by using a minimally-invasive technique. A guidewire is partially inserted into the bone to establish the trajectory for the bone anchor. The bone anchor is then advanced over the guidewire and rotationally driven into the bone using a driver instrument. The guidewire is then removed and one or more fixation elements are coupled to the bone anchor.
While a number of driver instruments have been developed for advancing bone anchors into bone, there is a continual need for improved driver instruments and related methods of driving bone anchors.